Jason spent 24 years as an air traffic controller at Los Angeles Center, and recently moved east to work in DC in the Airspace office as an air traffic subject matter expert. He is a Sport Pilot, owns a Rans S12XL E-LSA, and got his >87 knot endorsement so he can rent a C162. He's here to answer your questions about ATC procedures and rules, in a strictly unofficial capacity.

Mode S sends your Mode C altitude plus a unique code assigned to your aircraft. One could theoretically look up that code and find your type and registration number, but that information is not instantly available to ATC. 2020 compliance adds Extended Squitter to your mode S data stream. Those bits hand off your position information as derived from a TSO compliant WAAS GPS. To test for 2020 compliance, get yourself into radar contact with a NextRad ATC facility. After landing, there's a website you go to. Enter your unique Mode S code and print out your compliance report. (This serves as your required 24 month check).

The opinions posted are those of one CFI, and do not necessarily represent the FAA or its lawyers.Prof H Paul ShuchPhD CFII DPE LSRM-A/GL/WS/PPC iRMTAvSport LLC, KLHVfly@AvSport.orgAvSport.org facebook.com/SportFlyingSportPilotExaminer.US

The opinions posted are those of one CFI, and do not necessarily represent the FAA or its lawyers.Prof H Paul ShuchPhD CFII DPE LSRM-A/GL/WS/PPC iRMTAvSport LLC, KLHVfly@AvSport.orgAvSport.org facebook.com/SportFlyingSportPilotExaminer.US